Summoning - Kuchiyose

In response to requests from people, a miko (shrine maiden) becomes the corpse of a divine spirit and conveys the divine will through words. Or the miko who performs this act. A miko who attracts living spirits is called an ikikuchi, one who summons dead spirits is called a shinikuchi, and one who predicts and indicates good and bad fortune is called a kamikuchi. They hold instruments such as a drum, koto, bow or prayer beads and make sounds while waiting for the divine spirit to descend upon them. There are some variations depending on whether they are an ikikuchi, shinikuchi or kamikuchi, but there is a toikuchi where the client asks a question and the spirit is summoned to answer, and there is also a toikuchi where the miko speaks in the first person.

Those who channel spirits are called Itako or Okamin in the Tohoku region, Azusa Miko in the Kanto region, Yuta or Kankakariya in the Ryukyu Islands. The "Ita" in Itako, like Yuta, means the act of "saying," and describes the act of channeling spirits. There are many blind women in the Tohoku region, but that does not necessarily mean they are blind in general. There are those who undergo a certain amount of training, are possessed by spirits, and have a specific god or Buddha as their guardian deity, and those who suddenly become possessed by spirits. In the Tohoku region, people often channel spirits during the spring and autumn equinoxes and Bon festivals to worship the dead, but in Okinawa, Yuta often make requests without a set date. Although it is not called channeling, the fact that the same actions as kamiguchi are seen in shrine rituals in various places is a problem that must be taken note of as a phenomenon of spirit possession. For example, the oracle of Hayama Shrine in Matsukawa-cho, Fukushima City is one example. Originally, it was necessary to set a date and ask for God's will, and spirit possession can be said to be one form of this.

[Kamata Hisako]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

巫女(みこ)が、人々の求めに応じて神霊の尸童(よりまし)となって神意をことばで伝えること。あるいはこの行為を行う巫女のこと。生霊を寄せるのを生口(いきくち)、死霊を呼び出すものを死口(しにくち)、吉凶禍福を判断し、示すものを神口(かみくち)といい、鼓・琴・弓あるいは数珠(じゅず)などを手にして、音を鳴らしながら神霊の降霊を待つ。生口、死口、神口によって多少の変化はあるが、問口(といくち)といって、依頼者が問いかけ、それに対して口寄せさせて答えるものと、一人称で語りかけるものとがある。

　口寄せをする者を東北地方ではイタコ、オカミン、関東地方では梓(あずさ)ミコ、南西諸島ではユタ、カンカカリヤーなどとよんでいる。イタコのイタもユタと同じく、「言う」という行為を意味することばで、口寄せの行動を表すものである。東北地方では盲目の女性が多いが、一般には盲目とは限らない。一定の修行をし、神憑(つ)けが行われ、特定の神仏を守護神としてもっている者と、突然神がかり状態になって憑霊(ひょうれい)する者とがいる。東北地方では春秋の彼岸、盆などに口寄せを行って、死者を祀(まつ)ることが多いが、沖縄のユタなどは、日を定めず依頼することが多い。口寄せとはいわないが、神口と同じ行為が各地の神社祭儀にみられることは、憑霊現象として注意してゆかねばならぬ問題である。たとえば福島市松川町の羽山神の神託などはその一例である。本来は日を定めて神意を伺うことが必要であり、口寄せはその一形態といえよう。

［鎌田久子］

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